Ed Miliband: 'The Health Lottery is improving the health of the nation'

HEALTH LOTTERY: The Green Gym projects have been a huge success [MARK MOODY]

Mr Miliband was joined by The Health Lottery founder Richard Desmond and ASDA CEO Andy Clarke, as they visited The Conservation Volunteers project in Doncaster to celebrate more than £1.8m being awarded to 49 of the charity’s projects across the UK.

The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) Green Gym project engages with local people to offer outdoor physical activity through participation in community-based environmental projects.

This not only provides great benefit to the community by improving their green spaces but also helps the volunteers overcome issues such as isolation, anxiety and loneliness which can develop into more serious mental health issues.

The visit marked £87,932 awarded to two Green Gyms accessible to volunteers from Doncaster, Sheffield and Barnsley by the People’s Health Trust, using funds generated by HealthRich through The Health Lottery.

After strolling around the scheme in the grounds of St Catherine’s Hospital chatting to volunteers Mr Miliband was persuaded to pick up a spade – although he admitted he was less than green fingered in his own garden.

He said: “I am incredibly impressed by what The Conservation Volunteers are doing, talking to the volunteers they are obviously getting a lot out of it.

“There is a double benefit here because it is helping people who have mental health issues, not just to enjoy the area, they are cleaning up the area and improving it.

“It is really good that we see the benefits of the Health Lottery and what it is actually doing to help an organisation like TCV to engage in volunteers.”

GOOD EFFORT: Mr Miliband takes the hands-on approach to help out [MARK MOODY]

CONSERVATION: Ed Miliband, Richard Desmond and John Hume pose with their gardening gear during their visit to the project [MARK MOODY]

“When we started three years ago this is exactly what we envisaged.”

Richard Desmond, Daily Star owner

Mr Miliband praised the Health Lottery for its support for communities.

He added: “It can make a real difference just talking to the volunteers who are having a great time in the sunshine today. They are getting a massive amount out of it.

“For the future if we are going to solve the health needs of the nation it is this kind of intervention that is going to make a really big difference to actually make the health of the nation better.”

Express Newspapers owner Mr Desmond said: “I always like to come up and see where the money goes. We have given away around £48m which without the Health Lottery would not have gone to good causes such as this.

“I think projects like this are tremendous.

“When we started three years ago this is exactly what we envisaged.”

He added: “I’m delighted to have been able to show Ed the work that The Health Lottery is helping to achieve in thousands of communities across the country. I want The Health Lottery to support projects that help build up the local community and support people who are suffering.

“These are values that I care about and I am delighted that Health Lottery players have raised almost £2m to help support TCV and the fantastic work they do.”

Doncaster Central MP Rosie Winterton added: “This project is a combination of not just the traditional ways of helping people with mental health problems but actually helping with all round well-being. You can see how much people benefit from being outside and doing something that is constructive but also physically demanding. It is all very important for overall mental health.”

The Conservation Volunteers, formed in 1959, have community groups in over 2,000 locations in the UK, that organise regular outdoor and green activities aimed at bringing the community together, tackling social isolation and loneliness, and putting local people in control their own outdoor places.

Volunteer Malcom Cottom, 67, a retired teacher, said: “Projects such as Green Gyms are fantastic in helping prevent people develop mental health problems. People who have been long-term unemployed and lost the ability to socialise can get involved and slowly rebuild their confidence.

“In recent months we have had two people gain employment after working with us.”

The Health Lottery manages 51 society lotteries that operate in rotation and each represents a different geographical region of Great Britain. The independent People’s Health Trust then awards money raised.

Chief executive John Hume said: “We are really excited to be funding organisations such as the TCV. “We are supporting people with mental health needs and those that are isolated who might not come together at other times.

“People have told us today just what an important part of their lives this is.”